It is already the end of March and I am now just getting to our 2016 post. How time flies!! Big changes happened during the year that were monumental for the ministry. We were blessed to have a family join us who would help take us to a new level of care for the horses and the ministry. The Sebrights approached me with a proposition. They wanted to sell their current home, buy a property in Rio Verde that was suited for the ministry, and move us on their property so they can help me with the ministry and take care of all the horses. What???? How is this even possible? Anyway, that is exactly what happened. They sold their house, found a property that fit the ministry, and moved us on.
One of our first projects was to find a port a potty shell to put a real flushing toilet in. This was very high on my priority list. We had to have a bathroom for all of us to use. Can't really believe that I was able to find one on craigslist, but I did. The best part is that it has written on the side "porta party"!!! Definitely an upgrade from an actual port a potty.
With all of our participants help, we were able to put up turnouts, build a tack room and add hitching posts and shade covers during this first year. We were also able to put up a round pen, which is a must for working with new people and Mina training. I added some pictures of Mina's saddle, bit and ferrier training. She's doing great!! Julie and Mark added shade covers to the turn outs for the summer while we had the horses at camp.
When we moved on the property in March of 2016 (I added some pictures of the ride over and our welcome to our new property party), we had to temporarily work out of our two stock trailers in the parking lot that we had cleared. We used them to tie the horses up and store all the saddles and equipment in order to continue having sessions without a hiccup. That was a bit challenging, but very successful. I don't use the trailers often, but when I do need to use them, they are always available!! Can't run the ministry without them.
The amazing thing about our new property, since we don't have an arena, is that there are actual grated ovals just north of us that we can ride to in 5 minutes and use as a makeshift arena. Works really well, even without a fence and gate. Sure teaches everyone the nature of a horse that wants to go home though. Keeps you on your toes. We are also in close proximity to the park to the west with easy access to. We just love those granite mountain trails.
Below are some pictures of our new facility and the ovals. Next, we are in the process of putting up a barn. We took it down off of a vacant lot and relocated it to the property. Mark and Julie were kind enough to not only buy it for the ministry, but also make all the preparations necessary to put it back up. They want to move the ministry daily functions and horses to the back of their yard. That will then leave the front yard where we currently are, for an arena in the future. They want to be able to utilize their entire property for the ministry. This will be our 2017 project.
We added 4 new horses to the ministry, Charlie, Sadie, Jewel and Mr. B in 2016. Charlie unfortunately didn't make it through the winter. He had arthritis so bad in his hind quarters that he could not get up on his own. Sad to see him suffering, so we had to put him down. Sadie, Jewel and Mr. B are working out amazingly!! They are all in their 20's to fill the gap that we so desperately needed for our beginner to intermediate riders.
We did not have any fundraisers in 2016 since we were very busy with work days improving the property for the ministry. We did, however, have our annual camp in Prescott and our annual Christmas pictures. Other than that, we continued to ride and fellowship...exercise the horses and train Mina. I'll leave the most current updates on her for my 2017 post.
Enjoy the pictures!!
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